#CarmelIN – On our anniversary, my husband and I decided to use a gift card we had received to enjoy a nice dinner at Ted’s Montana Grill. It’s ordinarily a little out of our price range, but it’s always worth it and makes for a fabulous special occasion meal.

The service is always awesome, though in full disclosure, I should tell you m sister was our server. But I’ve had similarly awesome service over lunch even when she isn’t working. Lunch is always a great time to check out a new restaurant, if you’re on a budget — lunch specials are typically lower priced or you can get by with a lighter, appetizer meal.

Their specialty is buffalo meat, which explains the presence of Dusty the buffalo above the bar.

If you’re unsure about the buffalo, they will bring sample burgers to our table. From there, we were all in.

I love the buffalo nachos, with a little bit of spice to the chili sauce. This is our usual go-to, Ted’s Montana Grill on the cheap. I’m happy to call a nacho platter lunch any day of the week.

If you need a little more before your meal, snack on the pickled cucumbers they bring to the table at the start of each meal.

This meal was the first time I dared a buffalo burger, but the sample bite was amazing. The real thing was even better!

Ted’s also has several signature cocktails in the bar. I thoroughly enjoyed the Mountain Breeze — it’s a delicious twist on a cosmo and was the perfect ending to our anniversary meal.